Where Is Ford Center For The Performing Arts, And What Is It?

Ford Center for the Performing Arts, also known as Oriental Theater, is considered to be a gem in the entertainment world of Chicago. This wonderfully refurbished theater is an important part of the re-energized downtown theater district. It is managed by Broadway in Chicago.

It was opened as a movie house in 1926. This was one of the first motion picture palaces and musical theaters. The purpose behind the establishment of this movie house was to enrich the intellectual and cultural atmosphere of the city and the region by providing a site for performing arts. Initially it was believed to be an ideal venue for the celebration of imagination, innovation and creativity.

The decoration of this movie palace presented a magnificence which was completely novel in Chicago-a spectacular vision influenced by the Far East décor. It was whole heartedly designed by George L. and Cornelius W. Rapp for theater managers Balaban and Katz. The theater's distinguishing characteristics included a massive domed ceiling artistically bejeweled with the gigantic sized images of seahorses and goddesses, great wall surfaces enhanced with gold leaf patterns, painted columns, wrought-iron work on the staircase, multicolored plasterwork, ornate chandeliers and marble floors. All these elements made it a virtual museum of Asian art.